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The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays - Oscar Wilde
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
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Oscar Wilde's complex identity, as family man and homosexual outsider, socialite, socialist and Irish nationalist, underpins his unique insight into role-playing and the masks we all wear. A Woman of No Importance, for all its charm, exposes an aristocratic world that is smug, snobbish and... show more
Oscar Wilde's complex identity, as family man and homosexual outsider, socialite, socialist and Irish nationalist, underpins his unique insight into role-playing and the masks we all wear.

A Woman of No Importance, for all its charm, exposes an aristocratic world that is smug, snobbish and morally bankrupt. An Ideal Husband portrays a glittering diplomatic gathering which is revealed as a masquerade to cover up the shady past of a prominent establishment figure. Lady Windermere's Fan is a brilliant critique of conventional morality. In The Importance of Being Earnest every character is revealed to be leading a hypocritical double life, while Salome and A Florentine Tragedy use historical settings to explore issues of sex, gender and power.

While Wilde delighted audiences with his dazzling wit, it was, as Richard Allen Cave says, his innovative use of colour, design and spatial relationships on stage that made his plays 'revolutionary in the theatre of their time'.

This edition includes an introduction, commentaries and explanatory notes, and an excised scene from The Importance of Being Earnest.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9781784971529 (1784571529)
Publisher: Vintage Books
Pages no: 372
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Lillelara
Lillelara rated it
5.0 The Importance of Being Earnest
It´s a short play, so I`m not going to give a synopsis of the book. Besides, the story is completely bonkers and I wouldn´t even know where to begin in explaining the plot. However, what I´m going to tell you is that this play is utterly delightful. The dialogue is amazing, Lady Bracknell is a ho...
narfna
narfna rated it
5.0 The Importance of Being Earnest
"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train." "To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other’s character before marriage, which I think is never advisable." "The good en...
Kaethe
Kaethe rated it
Although I love his novel and his fairy tales, Wilde's greatest talent lies in his clever turns of phrase, and those are best displayed in his marvelous plays.
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